Comments on: MBNA SPG (Starwood) Credit Card Review

By: Elbyron

Elbyron — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:59:09 +0000

Charlie, did you not read the post just a bit above yours? The card is discontinued and existing cardholders will be cut off next February.

By: Charles Taub

Charles Taub — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:53:11 +0000

SPG Mastercard is the best.
1) Rate of return can be as high as 7% if you stick to catregory 1 and 2 . I have done this a few times.
2)Also if you have a spouse I suggest the following. Get one in each of your names. Husband to be a primary and wife to be a primary card holder.
In that way you can maximize 40,000 SPG points in year 1 on each of the accounts. ( This does not mean to add the spouse as a secondary card holder)
3) If the SPG account for the husband is short soem points, one can transfer spg points from the spouse at no charge. That is a heck of a feature.
4) If you book a hotel on points and cancel withinn 48 hours ,all of the points are credited back to your spg account. They do not charge for this.. This also a heack of a deal and felexibility)

Regards Charlie T.

By: MBNA SPG Credit Card Discontinued? | Million Dollar Journey

MBNA SPG Credit Card Discontinued? | Million Dollar Journey — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 10:30:15 +0000

[...] official folks, with great disappointment MBNA Canada has officially discontinued its popular Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Credit card (thanks to Nabeel for the heads up). For those of you who are fairly new to the blog, the MBNA SPG [...]

By: Nabeel Jafferali

Nabeel Jafferali — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:47:08 +0000

More info at http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starwood-preferred-guest/990229-mbna-starwood-mastercard-no-more-points-can-earned-thru-feb-28-2010-a.html

By: Nabeel Jafferali

Nabeel Jafferali — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:18:35 +0000

This card has been discontinued. Existing cardholders will be able to earn points through to Feb 2010. SPG will supposedly announce a new Canadian CC relationship in the coming months.

By: The Trouble with Reward Points | Million Dollar Journey

The Trouble with Reward Points | Million Dollar Journey — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 10:31:03 +0000

[...] Editors Note: In my opinion, if you like to travel, the highest yield (no fee) rewards credit card in Canada is the MBNA SPG Mastercard. [...]

By: Travel Credit Cards | THINKchua

Travel Credit Cards | THINKchua — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 15:44:53 +0000

[...] is one calculation that people are holding up as the “correct” rewards rate claiming a 4.8% return, which is based on one hotel’s list price for a room calculated against the dollars spent to [...]

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 01:30:59 +0000

Good news for you FT and others wondering. The restrictions on Aeroplan has been lifted from my last recollection. You can now transfer points to it like you would any other program using your SPG points. If you do a search on RFD and read through the thread there you will most likely find confirmation of this. I think that’s where I got my info from.

By: Choosing a travel rewards program | Two Go Round-The-World

Choosing a travel rewards program | Two Go Round-The-World — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:46:12 +0000

[...] at Million Dollar Journey figures that the card, at best, can offer a 4.8% return on the money that you spend. Pretty [...]

By: FrugalTrader

FrugalTrader — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:10:53 +0000

Jay9, my understanding is that you can only transfer spg pts to aeroplan IF the points are accumulated via hotel stays. Points accumulated via credit card transactions are not transferrable due to VISA/CIBC’s relationship with Aeroplan.

By: Jay9

Jay9 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:48:06 +0000

Does the SPG rewards transfer to flight with Air Canada and Westjet?

By: Hussein

Hussein — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:31:18 +0000

I’ll let them know. Thanks for following up.

By: Hussein

Hussein — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:19:29 +0000

I looked at the MBNA site today, and they don’t advertise the car rental insurance anymore. My friends who were looking to open the account were told by a representative over the phone that there is no insurance included in the card. When I opened my account just over a year ago, the insurance was still a feature included in the card, and I also haven’t received any notification to say it’s not included anymore. I’ll let you know if I hear anything further.

By: FrugalTrader

FrugalTrader — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 01:17:21 +0000

Hussein, your friends must be applied for the regular spg card and not the platinum. Car rental insurance, purchase assurance, extended warranty all still apply to platinum cards.

Here is a summary of benefits for various levels of MBNA cards:
http://www.mbna.ca/credit_comparecards.html

By: FrugalTrader

FrugalTrader — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:28:10 +0000

Hussein, are you sure about that? I haven’t received any notice that they have withdrawn their insurance benefits. Perhaps it’s with the non-platinum version?

By: Hussein

Hussein — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:09:27 +0000

new note – I had referred a few friends to this card, and it seems the insurance benefits have been withdrawn. I’ll likely need to check with them to see if my rental insurance was grandfathered, but you may want to change that the next time you update this page – still the best card in Canada, I think (and discovered through this site!), but by a little bit less.

By: Sunday Reading - April 12, 2009 | Million Dollar Journey

Sunday Reading - April 12, 2009 | Million Dollar Journey — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 10:31:33 +0000

[...] The Sun’s Financial Diary shows us that you can pay your US taxes via credit card. Too bad CRA doesn’t allow the same, I could rack up some big travel points! [...]

By: American Express Business Gold - Free Flight for Signing Up! | Million Dollar Journey

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:31:15 +0000

[...] reward choices. Like The Home Depot, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Sony, [...]

By: fraser

fraser — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:04:45 +0000

I have the platinum travel rewards card and just went through hell to book a simple flight.RESTRICTIONS DO APPLY. they will not book a direct 2.5 hr flight because ir cost to much insted thay are sending me for a 8hr flight the previous day and returning one day later than planned. get the td travel card

By: L505

L505 — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:20:21 +0000

What is with the lie on your Outlook Financial banner ad stating 5 percent GIC by the way, Frugal Trader? Outlook Financial should be courteous enough to update their banner ads in an honest manner. GIC interest rates have gone down quite a bit lately. Because of the lie, I will have to call up Outlook and demand they give me the 5 percent rate today, or else.